Variation in Blood Pressure as a Guide to Volume Loading in Children Following Cardiopulmonary Bypass

Abstract Objective  Intravascular volume loading is used to optimize cardiac output in children following weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass. Central venous pressure (CVP) is frequently used to titrate fluid administration but it is often misleading in predicting fluid responsiveness. Variation in the arterial pressure waveform is exaggerated in patients with deficient intravascular volume and has been shown to be a good predictor of fluid responsiveness in adults following cardiac surgery. The aim of this study was to compare the measures of variation in blood pressure as a guide to volume loading in children following cardiopulmonary bypass.